Bangert: Police departments should ID cops involved in shootings, but it's not likely to happen here

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The three fatal shootings this year involving Greeley police officers, and the recent shooting of a black teenager in Ferguson, Mo., raise again an issue that has been debated before in our community: Should officers who are involved in shootings be identified?

Police say no, because doing so would put the officers at risk of retaliation. In Greeley and Weld, they have a blanket policy against it.

We say accountability and transparency are equally important, and protecting the officer’s identity raises even more suspicion against all police officers.

In 1998, The Tribune filed a lawsuit against the then Greeley police chief, Weld County sheriff and Weld District attorney. There had been four fatal police shootings in two years, and in all cases, law enforcement officials refused to disclose the names of the officers involved in the shootings.

In all four cases, the officers were absolved of any wrongdoing. We didn’t dispute those conclusions, but we argued in court that the names of the officers should be released to the public.

In the three officer-involved shootings this year — and in multiple others since 1998 — we’ve asked for the names of the officers every single time. And in every case we’ve been denied for pretty much the same reason that District Court Judge Jonathan Hays ruled against The Tribune 16 years ago.

Releasing the names of officers involved in the shootings would “endanger the safety of the officers and their families” and would violate their rights to privacy, Hays wrote in his ruling. He said releasing the officers’ names also would create “a drain on public resources diverted to protect the officers and their families.”

Greeley and Weld County law enforcement officials are relatively unusual in Colorado. Most police jurisdictions — including the nearby Fort Collins Police Department — routinely release the names of officers who shoot suspects. But Greeley and Weld County have a long history, going back far longer than the lawsuit we filed in 1998, of not releasing officers names.

Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner, who has worked in multiple jurisdictions and wasn’t in Greeley when we filed the lawsuit, has continued the tradition. He believes retaliation against his officers or their families is possible when they are involved in shootings.

In some cases, that may be obvious. But in many other cases over the years, we’ve questioned if there really is a serious threat against an officer.

Garner and others admit threats against officers are rarely carried out. But he cites a recent example of a serious threat against a Greeley officer that came from a gang member who was in a state prison. And in the shooting last week of the 21-year-old Army vet, Garner told us of an incident later the same night of the shooting. Police and paramedics were called out on a report of a juvenile who had passed out. A group of juveniles and young men admitted they were Greeley gang members and decided to drink alcohol to honor the man who had been shot earlier in the day. And they told officers who responded that they wanted retribution against the officer who shot their friend.

It’s never clear if those threats are real or harmless, but Garner believes he has to take them seriously.

When the Greeley judge issued his ruling in ’98, even the then-Director of the Colorado Department of Public Safety Pat Ahlstrom acknowledged a blanket policy against releasing officers’ names was unusual in Colorado and the ruling wouldn’t be seen as precedent-setting.

“I think most police departments will continue with their policies of normally releasing this information,” Ahlstrom said.

He admitted there are “dangerous people out there who do plan retaliation” but he added that most police officers in Colorado understand it’s part of the job, and that their names will be released if they are involved in fatal shootings.

“A public officer normally has to be accountable, and that’s standing up and identifying yourself,” he said.

In Missouri, the police department’s initial refusal to release the officer’s name was a reason for many of the protests that have received national media attention. The community wants to know: Has the officer shot anyone before? Have there been previous accusations of excessive force?

Garner says the three shootings in Greeley were done by different officers.

For the record, we would agree that officers should be identified. But there is no state law in Colorado that requires it, and at least in Weld District Court, the issue has been decided.